As a child, Lucy suffered a brain injury that still affects the way she interacts with the world. Now 27, the death of her father (and primary caregiver) sweeps her into a whole other life, living with her younger brother in New York, where both of them struggle to adjust to their new situation. Written in an engaging and thoughtful manner, and enhanced by Lucy's drawings, this debut novel offers a unique voice and a perceptive depiction of the changing relationship between sister and brother.

Unfolding over a mere 24 hours, this heart-wrenching story starts with an early morning surf off the coast of northern France. But something goes wrong, and 19-year-old Simon ends up on life support; his parents must decide whether or not to donate his organs. Told from multiple points of view, including Simon's parents and girlfriend, the ICU doctor, the head of the transplant agency, and the potential recipient of Simon's heart, this French novel is "a sensuous and propulsive novel of tragedy and hope" (Booklist).

It's 1953 in the Soviet Union, and Stalin's plans to rid the country of its Jews are well under way. A security detail has gone to arrest an elderly Jewish actor; his response is to kill all three of them in a graceful but ultimately deadly move, find some followers, and make plans to assassinate Stalin. Written in three acts by a reporter who emigrated from Moscow in 1973, this debut novel is meticulously depicted, offbeat in its characterizations, full of gallows humor, and imaginative in its version of an alternative history. Fans of Gary Shteyngart (Absurdistan) should give it a shot.

When wife and mother Amy Raye Latour fails to return from an elk hunt in western Colorado, an all-out search is launched to find her as the weather continues to worsen. One of those looking for her is Ranger Pru Hathaway; like Pru, Amy is an independent, tough, experienced outdoorswoman, and Pru believes that she's still alive...even after the search is called off, four days later. Told by both women in alternating chapters (Amy Raye's, told in third person, are especially harrowing), and with a lot of details about both the wilderness and surviving in it, this novel adroitly combines an adventure story with one about relationships

The dog at the heart of this touching novel narrates his search for purpose over the course of multiple canine lives. Though his first life as a stray is short and none too sweet, his second, as a golden retriever owned by eight-year-old Ethan, seems to be the pinnacle of a dog's existence. After a long life as Bailey, he is born again, this time as a female German shepherd who becomes a star Search and Rescue dog, but it's not until his rebirth as Buddy, a black Lab, that his true purpose becomes clear. This "tail-wagging three hanky boo-hooer" (Publishers Weekly) is sure to delight fans of books from Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain to Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie.

All of the interconnected short stories in this unusual collection are told from the point of view of animals who have encountered the worst of human history. There's a chimpanzee in Germany in 1917, a pair of bears in 1992's Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a parrot in Lebanon in 2006. The animals are self-aware and insightful -- some of them can even communicate with humans in one way or another -- and despite the creatures' sometimes-dire situations, the stories themselves are often warm and compassionate. "Wonderfully weird and profoundly witty," says Kirkus Reviews.

At its core a story of heartbreaking family dysfunction, this novel is narrated by Rosemary, whose family fell apart in the wake of her sister Fern's disappearance when they were five years old. Several years later, her brother also left the family. Claiming not to remember what led to Fern's disappearance, Rosemary is eventually forced to confront the role she played. Spoilers abound when it comes to this family's story, so we'll say nothing more, but chances are your understanding of family may be redefined.

Narrated by William, a white rabbit living at the historic Hougoumont farm, a focal point of the Battle of Waterloo, this quirky debut novel offers an oral history of Napoleon and Wellington's clash from the point of view of the rabbits who lived there, passed down through the generations. Extremely detailed, the historical lessons the rabbits present also reflect on the cost of war. "Inventive [and] beautifully written", says the San Francisco Chronicle.

Will Testerman, a restless but careful young man from a ranch in Wyoming, wants to become a horse trainer. After a period in Texas, he returns home and puts his savings into a beautiful young quarter horse he raises and trains himself. Finding some success in Wyoming, he works at a guest ranch in the Absaroka Mountains before going to Southern California, where his dreams of becoming a polo pony trainer are challenged by what he finds there. Depicted in beautifully detailed prose, horses and the western landscape alike are fully realized.

The rules are simple: "Accept, Obey, and Serve." But Flora 717, a worker bee whose "exceedingly large and ugly" appearance distinguishes her from the rest of her caste, is destined to put that motto to the test. Flora observes, questions, and challenges the hive's strict laws as all the while she rises through the colony's ranks -- from sanitation worker to Queen's handmaid -- undeterred by the brainwashing effects of honey and the all-consuming pheromonal power of Queen's Love. But honeybee colonies are super-organisms whose survival depends on the suppression of individual desires in service of the common good. Will Flora prove to be the savior of her hive, or the agent of its destruction?